How a NASA astronaut made this 9/11 victim’s space dream come true

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There is no way around it. September 11 will always be a difficult day because the memories do not fade.

I’ll never forget sitting in my class on this beautiful autumn morning. The sky was amazingly blue and the air was crisp. Then everything changed in an instant and a shadow swallowed the sun. But I also remember how my community came together, how we supported each other and found ways to help.

As Mr. Rogers once said: “When I was little and I saw scary things in the news, my mother would tell me, ‘Look for help. You will always find people who help.'”

People are still doing things to keep the spark of hope alive – like an astronaut who helped make a 9/11 victim’s dream come true.

Defy gravity

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy is shown in the dome of the International Space Station on September 11, 2020.

When the time came for veteran NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy to go to space for the third time, he contacted the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.

There he learned the story of Chandler “Chad” Keller, who died when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on September 11. As a child, Keller dreamed of being an astronaut and he became a propulsion specialist at Boeing.

Cassidy bonded with the Keller family and together they posthumously made Chad’s dream of going to space come true.

Dig that

Forget Jurassic Park, our oceans would have been a terrifying place 500 million years ago. If you’ve been for a dip in the ocean, you may have encountered this giant “swimmer’s head,” a primitive creature built like an underwater tank.

It had multifaceted eyes, a mouth shaped like a pineapple slice, and thorny claws under its head that acted like a rake for prey. The animal’s body had a series of flaps to help it swim. And then there was this big head shell, or defensive blanket, like the shell of a turtle.

Nicknamed Titanokorys gainesi, this primitive arthropod, called the radiodon, was enormous compared to other contemporary ocean creatures that were about the size of a little finger.

Consequences

The Dixie Fire made the California night sky shine in this August image.
It’s official: This summer was the hottest on record in the United States and on par with the Dust Bowl summer of 1936, not to mention hurricanes, floods and wildfires.
It’s never a good thing to be compared to the Dust Bowl. This is just one of the many reasons we crave the nostalgic fall pumpkin palooza.
As our planet warms, animals change shape in response, developing larger beaks, legs and ears that allow them to better regulate their body temperature, especially birds.
One thing that might help calm things down is keeping the majority of the remaining fossil fuels in the ground by 2050.

Across the universe

Talk about an astronomical recovery game. Astronomers have captured new images of 216 Kleopatra – an asteroid that closely resembles a dog bone (which is over 100 miles long).

This spatial quirk doesn’t stop there. Cleopatra also has two small moons orbiting the asteroid.

The photos have given astronomers a better understanding of the asteroid’s peculiar shape and deepened the mystery of how its moons were formed.

Fantastic creatures

Researchers recorded a musky duck, like this one, saying something unusual.

Once upon a time there was a duck who no longer had the trouble of giving.

The Ripper, an Australian musk duck, was recorded saying “you fool.” This is the first documented example of the species imitating human speech.

He said the sassy phrase during a courtship display that involves sound and splash. The Ripper likely took direct inspiration from his keeper, given he was hand-raised in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve near Canberra, Australia.

We wonder if he knew how to say “you are despicable” like Daffy Duck.

Take note

Don’t let these escape your attention:

– The Perseverance rover has successfully collected two samples from a Martian rock – and they may contain evidence of ancient water bubbles (or even ancient microbial life).
– Impressive images won this year’s Drone Photo Awards. The aerial perspectives will blow your mind.
– This newly discovered dinosaur was the T. rex of its day, and it had teeth like a shark.
Watch astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Akihiko Hoshide venture outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk on Sunday, starting at 8:30 a.m.ET. And thanks for your spacewalk song suggestions – we’ve taken them to heart and updated our playlist.
Do you like what you read? Oh, but there is more. register here to receive the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to your inbox, brought to you by writer CNN Space and Science Ashley Strickland, which finds wonders in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries of the ancient world.



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